This is the darkest timeline. Why are you going to Arkansas State? I don't follow scheduling close enough to know if there's a narrative reason for Arkansas State specifically, but Mizzou has always been willing to play true road games at small conference schools under Pinkel. Troy, Bowling Green, Nevada, New Mexico, Toledo, now Arkansas State, plus future dates with Wyoming, Memphis, and Middle Tennessee State. Generally speaking, Pinkel likes to play a FCS team, two mid majors, and one power conference team to fill out the non-conference. This year is one of the deeper slates with @Arkansas State, v. UConn, and BYU at Arrowhead. Mizzou also has been dealing with some scheduling issues since joining the SEC. Had to move some stuff around and had some instances where they had open dates very late in the process. Shouldn't be a problem going forward - I also don't anticipate seeing many more games like @Arkansas State on the schedule in future years.